# If Ebay Didn't Auction Pipe Tobacco



## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

So what? Who cares?

The stinker that makes fake Esoterica and Samuel Gawith labels (and sticks them on tins filled with who-knows-what) has caused a couple of discussions here. The guy is just bad karma at best and I'm happy to say I outted him to Ebay as a trademark thief who misrepresented repacked commercial goods under a fake label.

Along the way a few members here wondered aloud if it is wise to out a stinker and maybe (shudder; gasp) kill the future of tobacco sales on Ebay. Here's what I think about that:


Getting Stinky's auctions canceled is good for everyone except Stinky.
There's nothing sold on Ebay we couldn't live without if there was a policy change because of Stinky.
I'll bet a cookie that if anyone tried the same thing here he'd be banned for life in a New York nanosecond.
There are other places besides Ebay to buy pipes and pipe tobacco at auction and, if Ebay bailed, there's always Bonanza, Ruby Lane, etc. to fill the void; or Puff.com could start an auction page to help pay the bills and finance college scholarships for pipesmokers children.
Tell you what else I think. All that is needed for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. I think every good person (here and everywhere) has an obligation to either help/correct- or out guys like Stinky wherever they pop up. Nobody here needs Ebay more than they need to do the right thing.


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## User Name (Feb 11, 2011)

Why you gotta playa hate?


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## skydvejam (Feb 27, 2011)

+1 on needing to take action, more people need to realize that is what it takes to keep things in check. Even more so on a user policed site, like E-bay tends to be.


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## sounds7 (Mar 25, 2009)

Mister Moo said:


> There are other places besides Ebay to buy pipes and pipe tobacco at auction and, if Ebay bailed, there's always Bonanza, Ruby Lane, etc. to fill the void; or Puff.com could start an auction page to help pay the bills and finance college scholarships for pipesmokers children.


Im not worried about ebay. Mr Moo can always sell us his stash at a reasonable price


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## Rock31 (Sep 30, 2010)

Well said Mr Moo, especially for new people who may not know better.

Not sure how much pipe baccy is bought and sold on the bay but it seems there would be alternatives if something happened.


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

I for one would not miss it. I can only imagine ebay sales being of any importance if and when the ani's get their way. Making it so none of the online retailers want to supply to us any more. Then in that case, I think there would be other options open up besides the bay.


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## d_day (Aug 24, 2008)

Good going. I mean that too. These are the kinds of people that make it impossible to find the tobacco we love. Every one that gets shut down makes me all the happier.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Now if we can just put Mister Moo to work on those Wall Street guys, we'll have the economy back on track in a North Carolina minute!


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

I don't give a crap Label McTinsalot on Ebay. No offense, really.

People bought his stuff, and I *really really* bet no one did so to get a "collectible" tin. And I can't be made to care about copyright infringement issues. There's no reason to believe that the guy wasn't putting the authentic tobacco in his "forged" tins. It was clear that the mini-tins were a workaround for him to sell samples. _If _the tobacco itself wasn't legit, then that would clearly reflect in his user rating. People lined up to bid on them; let them.

He very likely could have sold the same samples in "collectible" Zip Locks or Ball jars. It would be within Ebay's "wink wink" rules. Which are in our favor! I refuse to get in a twist over a photoshopped sticker and some desperate fools opening up their wallets. It's ridiculous to police Ebay tobacciana when there's significant risk of that outlet being shut down, just like [email protected] Or we could all cut off our nose to spite our face.

And really, what was the absolute worst that could happen if everyone here just looked the other way? Say he _is _filling his forged mini-tins with Captain Black -- the majority of his customers would see it was a visibly different product, and his rating would take too many hits for him to continue this ruse. The end. As for it having some sort of nebulous impact on the pipe smoking community -- those mini-tin sales are absolutely infinitesimal compared to the tins moving out of even one B&M let alone the entirety of internet tobacco sales. Gawith, Dunhill, and Esoterica are not going to be shuttered because someone resold their product with a scanned and printed sticker. And anyone who cries hoarder has only to look at their own stash with a critical eye. This one guy, buying and breaking up tins, was not the reason you couldn't land Stonehaven the last time around. All of us were.

Just to be clear, the guy's a jerk and still not worth defending, but inaction would have been the most prudent course.


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## Habanolover (Feb 22, 2006)

User Name said:


> Why you gotta playa hate?


And this post adds exactly what to the discussion at hand?


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## User Name (Feb 11, 2011)

Habanolover said:


> And this post adds exactly what to the discussion at hand?


That's Stinky...

Hey Arnold?


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

drastic_quench said:


> I don't give a crap Label McTinsalot on Ebay. No offense, really.
> 
> People bought his stuff, and I *really really* bet no one did so to get a "collectible" tin. And I can't be made to care about copyright infringement issues. There's no reason to believe that the guy wasn't putting the authentic tobacco in his "forged" tins. It was clear that the mini-tins were a workaround for him to sell samples. _If _the tobacco itself wasn't legit, then that would clearly reflect in his user rating. People lined up to bid on them; let them.
> 
> ...


No offense taken, DQ. I couldn't care less about the amount of tobacco involved but I see trademark theft differently than you.


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

Mister Moo said:


> No offense taken, DQ. I couldn't care less about the amount of tobacco involved but I see trademark theft differently than you.


Yes. My work also places a lot of importance on trademarks and protection of IP. I have seen how Trademark theft harms a company, and leaves the clean-up to legitimate retailers and the companies that spend millions in honest R&D and marketing.

Just one erroneous post of "I tried XYZ and it sucked", does a lot of harm in our internet age.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Hey, don't knock XYZ; they distribute some of my favorite baccys!


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## GuitarDan (Nov 26, 2009)

I doubt anyone would be so peeved is he was hawking Condor or F&K- Merde de Cheval...

To my eye; the big issue is that he's got heaps of what you want but can't find easily at a price that makes you happy, and profiting from it.

The manufacturer or distributorisn't "losing money"; as he's selling their product. So long as he's not passing other blends off as whatever he claims is in the tin I don't see the problem.

I do have issue that he's being dishonest in trying to pretend that the tins are "unopened" or sealed. At one point he tries to make it sound like they're factory tins. Horrible and wrong. If he was out in the open of what he was doing and put the proper blends in the tins I wouldn't have a problem with it at all, and I bet he'd do a lot more business as a result.

The way it is, he's raising too much fuss... just begging for an audit... which give more reason for the government to strong arm online tobacco auctions and retailers out of business so we can all pay "our fair share" of taxes...

The gray/black market of jobber/suppliers are going to be our only way to purchase our pipe tobacco without paying astronomical prices. Have a look at the cigarette market in Europe- that's our future as pipesmokers.

I'd rather let a few unsavory fellows skate by, rather than shutting down the rink for everyone.

Let's be honest with ourselves- when you do your State taxes are you so diligent as to keep accurate records of your purchases and pay your state the proper amount? I ummmmnnnnn do? *rolls eyes*

He's not selling phoney tins full of god knows what to B&M shops. If he were, he'd have FAR more negative feedback than he does.

THIS is the real sleeping giant you should be pissed about...
Sell India Pip Tobacco Erinmore Micxture Manufacturer, Supplier & Exporter - ECPlaza
When you buy from reputable shops online or even brick&mortar and buy completely bogus stuff from the shop owners who were fooled into thinking they were supplied properly, THAT is when the shit needs to hit the fan.


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## strongirish (Dec 11, 2008)

If I were a reciever of one of the tins bought on ebay and it had bogus product in it, I would be mad. I too think Mr Moo is right to do what he did. Right is right and wrong is wrong and I think we all owe it to our fellow pipers to do the right thing and report it.


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## dmgizzo (Dec 13, 2010)

I rarely use Ebay to buy anything anymore. It's simply too hard to find things at the price I am willing to pay more often than not. There was a point in time where Ebay was all about bargain shopping, but somewhere along the lines it turned into a win at all costs mentality for too many people. I have had better luck buying pipes/etc at prices I am willing to pay elsewhere.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

I'm with Moo on this one.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

I agree with the esteemed Mr. Moo entirely as well.

In addition to the rationale presented, I would also say that this clown is the most extreme example of profiteering we have seen yet. If we had allowed it to continue, what would be next? Stonehaven sold in individual collector's sized flakes for $10 a pop? You have to draw the line somewhere.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Also, on a further note, I sincerely doubt reporting one guy's auctions as trademark infringement is going to throw up red flags at ebay.

Have any of you ever dealt with their customer service? It is hard to get their attention on anything, even something way more serious than this.

They are profit driven. It isn't in their interest to ban these types of sales unless it will tarnish their image. The only way I see that happening is if there is some sort of news exposé on it, and/or if some anti-tobacco lobby group got involved. The likelihood of that is pretty slim, IMHO.


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## GuitarDan (Nov 26, 2009)

I agree... there is very little chance of Ebay doing anything to limit it's own profit *willingly*
Government pressures are only increasing as the powers that be seek to maximize taxation and control. Rest assured within 5-7 years, there will be no Ebay selling of tobacco- collectible tins or no. Within 10 years there will be no electronic payment methods for internet sales that don't pass through government scrutiny.... No more reasonably price tins for anyone... With the exception of gray/black market sales.

This is my opinion; no hard feelings if you don't agree.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Jack Straw said:


> In addition to the rationale presented, I would also say that this clown is the most extreme example of profiteering we have seen yet. If we had allowed it to continue, what would be next? Stonehaven sold in individual collector's sized flakes for $10 a pop? You have to draw the line somewhere.


I don't see why; let the market draw the line. It's only the stealing of the tin artwork, and the implication of factory sealed tins that bothers me. Unless, of course, the content is bogus, but I've seen no indication of that.


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